My new Vintage Marblehead Sun Wind HF rc sailboat had its maiden sail this afternoon! Very light winds, and I'll need a lot more time to do some tuning, but it didn't sink and it came back to shore, so it all went well! However, it was VERY obvious that the rig was too far forward. So now the entire thing will need to be moved aft about 2". The pics in this post are of the original placement of the rig, and you can see that it's too far forward. Will update a new post when it has been moved back. Now, how to cover the holes... ugh!  There were a few asking for better pics of the spars... Will hopefully be able to take her out again this weekend for some proper wind, but the forecast isn't looking good right now. Tough time of year for sailing. Aloha!

In my previous boats, I've always used an aluminum mast (and a carbon fiber one on the Tippecanoe T37). For this Vintage Marblehead High Flyer Sun Wind II though, in keeping with the tradition of the 1940's/1950's, I thought it would be fun to attempt a wooden mast. This is my first try! People on the innertubes seem to agree that spruce is the best. So I went to my local lumber yard (NOT a big box place either... but one that knows wood better), and bought two sticks of what they said was spruce. However, once I started milling it, I'm now not totally sure what I bought. I think that it probably is spruce, but after reading online about the differences, it may actually be pine. Even if it is pine, at least one smart guy online says that he prefers it for his mast anyway. So... whatever! I'm calling it spruce. It has some very small knots in it, and is very whitish. The pine I've used in the past has been a bit more yellow. I milled out 8' strips that ...